Getting Back into the Game after a Long Winter

Hello again fellow Hack Golfers!!!

It has been a long winter and it seems like we still have quite a while to go before we can get back out on the course.  Here in Michigan we have actually had a pretty mild winter.  Unfortunately, even a mild winter in this neck of the woods still means no golf between November and March.  I go into football / hockey fan mode as I hibernate all winter but watching the Accenture Match Play Championship today is getting me ready to get back out on the course.  I did have a chance to get a round in on a nice indoor PGA simulator at one of our local tracks, but its just not the same as the real thing.  If, like me, you have to start getting back in shape after this long winter Sean Cochran has put together a nice article with some excercises to help regain your balance, flexibility and strength for the upcoming golf season.  As a matter of fact even if you are lucky enough to have never stopped golfing all winter these excercises could still help you out.

Golf Fitness Program for Getting Back Into the Game, Sean Cochran

Tiger Woods Antics, Animated!

I don't normally comment much on the happenings in the world of professional golf.  Don't get me wrong I love to play golf and I love to watch a professional golfing event when I get the chance.  I especially enjoyed watching Darren Clarke win the British Open (I refuse to call it "The Open") recently.  Its just that the way I play the game and what they do on television are two totally different things to me.  I came across this animated video depicting Tiger Woods' recent struggles and I thought I would share it since it made me laugh.  I believe it is narrated in Japanese but it does have english subtitles.

Drive it farther or Hit long irons better

For hack golfers like myself, it is a lot harder to put a 3 iron shot onto the green than it is to put a 7 iron up there.  Unfortunately, my drives usually leave me in a position where I am much longer than a 7 iron out on my approach shot.  I figure there are two solutions to this problem.  The first one is to drive the ball farther.  For me, it seems the harder I swing with my driver the less desirable the result is.  The second solution to the problem is to hit my long irons better.  I told a 2-handicap friend of mine that I could not hit my long irons and I was getting to the point that I was afraid to pull them out of the bag.  He simply said “choke up”.  This advice helped me get over my fear of the 3 iron but that doesn’t mean that I can put it where I want.  Here are a few videos which may help you do one or the other better:
Drive it Farther:

Hit Long Irons Better: Watch video and read this article.

A big slice of life…

Photos courtesy of golftipsmag.com

If you’re a big slicer like I am (sometimes) you are always looking for a way to cure your slice.  So far, the best way that I have found to straighten out my drives to to aim way to the left to compensate for my slice.  It seems like every time I try to do that my ball goes straight into the woods or the water instead of slicing back to the fairway.  The pros over at Golf Tips Magazine have written an easy-reading article with some pointers that may help to cure your slice:

Golf Tips - Slice No More

Golf as therapy

You would think it would be frustrating.  Shanking balls into the woods, visiting every bunker and water hazard on the course, sending chunks of grass farther than my ball travels.  You would think it would be torture, but it’s actually a sort of therapy, as far as I am concerned.  I have been missing from this blog for the last little while dealing with the loss of a close family member.  While she has been on my mind constantly since she passed, the only times that I have felt at peace and relaxed is the couple times I have been able to get out on the course in the last few weeks.  There is just something about being out in nature, drinking beer with your friends and failing at a nearly impossible feat that just helps you to take your mind off of things.  The weather doesn’t have to be great and by the end of the round the beers don’t even have to be cold. All you need is a friend or two, your clubs, and in my case at least 10 golf balls.  Even if you are playing solo, or if you skip the beverages, you can still get a lot of benefit from golfing even if you do it badly. 

Golf has been called, and I’m paraphrasing, “Masochism outdoors” and at times I can see why.  But, as was said by the Irish author Robert Wilson Lynd, “It is almost impossible to remember how tragic a place this world is when one is playing golf”. 

Maybe it is the friends, maybe it is the nature, maybe it is the self abuse and surely it is partly because of the beer, but golfing is the best form of therapy I have come across.  Both golf and life can be cruel, but in both cases you have to play it as it lies.

Butch Harmon tips to save your short game

Butch Harmon has coached some of the best golfers the world have ever seen.  While the small tweaks someone like Phil Mickelson has to make in his game are nothing compared to what us hacks need to work on, the fundamentals of the swing are the same for virtually everyone. The slideshow which I have linked to below has some tips for each of 5 different types of short-game shots from Butch Harmon.

"I've been fortunate to work with some of the best short-game players ever--guys like Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Jose Maria Olazabal. What I've learned from these players is that greatness around the green comes from always picking the right shot, then totally committing to it. No second-guessing it, no flipping or scooping at impact. If you commit and make a positive swing, you're virtually guaranteed to do three things right: (1) accelerate through the ball; (2) shift to your front foot; and (3) deliver the same clubface loft at impact as you set down at address. "

See the slideshow here:  Butch Harmon: 5 Shots To Save Your Game

Remember Memorial Day this Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend, in addition to being the unofficial start of summer, is a great time to get out and golf.  I hacked my way through a soggy 18 holes yesterday morning, as we have had rain up here in Michigan for at least the last 75 days in a row.  This weekend is also a great time to have some friends over for a barbecue and to drink some beer.  There are great sports to watch on television this weekend.  What ever you do this weekend, take a little time to remember what Memorial Day is all about.  Many men and women gave their lives so that we all have the freedom to do whatever it is we want to do -this weekend and every weekend.  Some of these fallen heroes were drafted into service, and some of them volunteered to fight for their country.  Freedom isn’t free and countless people have paid the ultimate price for our liberty.  One day a year is not enough to remember all that they have done for our country, but on this one day be sure to take some time to remember all of the lost service men and women who have died for our country.